Microsoft to Open First Retail Stores in Arizona, California

Microsoft plans on opening its long-planned stores in Scottsdale, Ariz., and Mission Viejo, Calif., this fall. The California outlet will be opened in close proximity to an Apple Store, suggesting that Microsoft will indeed make good on earlier promises to compete with Apple directly for retail customers. According to a leaked document, Microsoft's early concepts for the stores include an "Answers Bar," an event area, and kiosks for products such as Windows 7 and Windows Mobile-equipped smartphones.

Microsoft's
first retail stores will open this fall in Scottsdale,
Ariz., and Mission
Viejo, Calif., according to the
company.
Fulfilling an earlier promise to challenge
Apple's retail experience head-on, Microsoft will open a storefront at The
Shops at Mission Viejo, which already features an Apple Store.
By contrast, the mall in Scottsdale
will be competition-free for the planned Microsoft outlet.

Microsoft's store openings constitute a large part of the company's broader
strategy to take its rivals in a more aggressive manner. As detailed in a
140-slide PowerPoint document leaked to Gizmodo,
early
concepts for the store include kiosks for products such as Windows 7 and
Windows Mobile-equipped smartphones, along with wall displays for Xbox,
accessories, laptops and software.
In a nod to the Apple Store, some of the PowerPoint slides feature designs
an in-store event area, as well as an "Answers Bar" that seems
reminiscent of Apple's Genius Bar. Microsoft hired consulting company
Lippincott, whose client roster includes McDonald's, Sonic Drive-In and Wal-Mart,
to craft the concepts.
Microsoft seemed displeased about the leak, with a spokesperson dismissing
the slides as merely rough drafts of the stores' final form:

Nicholas Kolakowski is a staff editor at eWEEK, covering Microsoft and other companies in the enterprise space, as well as evolving technology such as tablet PCs. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, Playboy, WebMD, AARP the Magazine, AutoWeek, Washington City Paper, Trader Monthly, and Private Air. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.